11.144 Kimchi Paste [recipe]

11.144

28 (Thu) May 2020

Kimchi Paste

3.0

by me

at home

-Dasmariñas Village, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines-

Enhanced Community Quarantine, Day 72 / Repax Day -3.

The movers will come tomorrow morning to begin packing up our stuff and ship it back to Korea.

The last stand – we’re holed up in IZ’s room while the rest of the house gets packed.
As a show of gratitude, our helper LL made stir-fried beef for lunch – the first-time in 6.5 years that she has ever cooked us anything of her own accord. I was touched, though with a big roll of the eyes.

To empty out the fridge, I made one final batch of kimchi paste, the all-in-one seasoning base that is applied to various vegetables to make kimchi.  For several years, I’ve been experimenting to formulate a recipe for the paste (see 7.117 Kimchi Batch 1: Geotjeoli), and this is as far as I’ve managed to take it.  I never got around to posting a full recipe that includes the application of the paste to a vegetable (see for example 9.093 My Kimchi), but this will have to do for now.   The recipe is rather on the sweeter side, better suited for certain vegetables, such as cucumbers and radishes, but should work fine on anything.  For whatever it’s worth, I will give the paste as a parting gift to our extended family members that we will leave behind.

In the history of GMTD, this post is unprecedented in featuring only a recipe that has no relation to a meal eaten on this day.

RECIPE

  • 300 grams of onion (about 3 small bulbs)
  • 100 grams of large scallion (about 2 stalks)
  • 150 grams of garlic (about 25 cloves)
  • 1 tablespoon of ginger juice (about 1 large thumb, grated and squeezed)
  • 1 cup of ground red chili powder (gochugaru)
  • 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) of plum extract
  • 6 tablespoons of anchovy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of pickled shrimp
  • 2 tablespoons of rock salt
  • 2 tablespoons of beef bouillon powder
The recipe calls for 4 seasonings – anchovy sauce, pickled shrimp, rock salt, beef bouillon powder – each of which would contribute a distinct flavor to the mix, but the types and quantities may be adjusted to personal preference; of these, I would suggest that anchovy sauce and salt are essential, if the others are not readily available.

1.  Coarsely chop the onions and scallions, and add to a food processor.

2.  Add the other ingredients to the food processor, starting with the wet ingredients (the moisture at the bottom helps to get things going).

3.  Blend the ingredients on high for about 5 minutes until the paste has achieved a smoothish consistency.

4.  Transfer to jars, seal, and refrigerate until ready to use (the paste will keep for at least 1 year).


I will someday post a follow-up recipe to explain how this paste is applied to make kimchi.

(WHAT)(WHERE)

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